A Thousand Paper Cranes
by Under A Cloud
Summary: Each paper crane tells a different story of a different ninja.
1. Temari

Hey there, this is the first story of 'A Thousand Paper Cranes', I hope you will enjoy it and support this story!

Summary: Each paper crane tells a different story of a different ninja.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

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**Temari**

The blonde-haired kunoichi sighed heavily. She glared at her timetable. This was her first break in three days of works and it was only going to be 15 minutes. 15 minutes. She sighed and remembered the time when her brother, Gaara the Godaime Kazekage was kidnapped by the notorious criminal organization, Akatsuki. Temari looked up at the clock and grabbed a towel, wiping her sweat.

Temari sighed again. Ever since Sunagakure started a contract with Kumogakure in business-dealing, she had been running back and froth between the two countries and she was extremely exhausted.

"I'm going to talk to Gaara about training another messenger…" Temari muttered. It was true. Sunagakure needed more messengers. Temari had been the one running here and there, carrying the messages. She was glad when Gaara set up the messenger-birds training operation. Takamaru and the other messenger-birds helped her with her works a lot. She was now able to take a break every three days. Temari wiped her eyebrows. It had been such a long time since she was home. Home in Sunagakure. She thought about Kankurou, who was still stuck somewhere in Iwagakure, on a business trip. She smirked at the thought. That is how life goes.

'_It's all for the goods of Sunagakure_,' Temari smiled and told herself. Gaara was the most efficient Kazekage Sunagakure could have ever asked for. He earned the respect of almost all the people who opposed him within three years of his region. To her, joy is seeing the people of Sunagakure happy. Joy is witnessing her brother, Gaara being accepted by the citizens of Sunagakure. This type of joy will never be understood by the snake freak, Orochimaru.

Temari looked up at the ceilings and thought about all the troubles Sunagakure had been through. Like when the Sandaime Kazekage went missing, when the Godaime Kazekage, her brother was kidnapped by Akatsuki. '_But we pulled through all of them,_' Temari reminded herself, proud of her village.

This world was a beautiful place, if you know how to treasure what you have. That was how Temari views life. Life has to go on no matter what.

"Temari-sama, Kazekage-sama has a new order for you!" A voice yelled.

Yes, that is how life goes. Temari smiled as she stood up, and went to get her new order.

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I broke my own record of shortness. O-o Nice, I'm going to try and write the new chapter soon, but you can't expect anything from an authoress as lazy as me (too soon)! I know that this is lame but please, don't kill me. 


	2. Shikamaru

Hey there, this is the second chapter of 'A Thousand Paper Cranes'. I hope you will like it and thanks to the reviewer Adiji-Sensei!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, please don't come after me.

**Second chapter of 'A Thousand Paper Cranes'**

**Shikamaru**

Troublesome; everything in life was troublesome. At least it was so, to Nara Shikamaru. He was a genius, yet he did not make full use of his intelligence. All he wanted to do was to slack, layback, watch the cloud, sleep, eat and avoid missions. But the Godaime Hokage did not allow him to do so. He was a chuunin after all, and he had his duty. Shikamaru sighed in frustration as he stormed into Tsunade's office.

"What do you want, Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru asked, sighing and with his hand in his pockets. He was wearing his chuunin vest and his hair was in its usual hairstyle; typical old Shikamaru.

"I have a new mission for you," Tsunade looked at Shikamaru and announced. "You are to take in a team of genin and-"

"Isn't that for jounin?" Shikamaru cut in. Tsunade nodded.

"Look, Hokage-sama, I think you might have gotten things mixed up. I, Nara Shikamaru, am a chuunin, not a jounin!" Shikamaru said.

"I know that; but we are running low on jounin. So, Shikamaru, do you accept?" Tsunade fixed Shikamaru with a look that said 'Don't-you-dare-to-reject'. Shikamaru caught the look and he wanted to die. Troublesome.

"Too troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

"What did you just say?" Tsunade asked sharply.

"I said that I will be more than happy to take them in," Shikamaru said quickly, fearing for his life. He knew that Tsunade was not one to be messed with. Tsunade grinned.

"Alright, go to the ninja academy Room 107 to pick up your team of genin at 12pm today; do not be late!" Tsunade said, putting more force on the last statement than the rest. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and walked out. Shikamaru sighed. He thought that he could escape the horrors of bringing genin out on troublesome D-ranks and C-ranks mission by forever staying a chuunin; but he was wrong.

Life is troublesome.

Being a teacher is troublesome.

Being a ninja is troublesome.

Being the teacher of a team of new genin is even more troublesome.

Shikamaru kicked a pebble as he made his way to the ninja academy.

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I think… I got Shikamaru OOC. Sigh, at least I tried my best.


	3. Neji

Ok…I'm a low updater, yeah, but you can't blame me. Tsusukuru, I don't think that was fast… o-o it took me just three minutes to write 'Shikamaru' and I think its total crap. Gaah, let's not bother! Finally, I decided on what to write on for the third chapter! Thanks Tsusukuru and Adiji-Sensei for your reviews! They really cheered me up. I'm glad you think that Shikamaru in IC. Tsusukuru, I understand what you're talking about. Even if I don't, I think it's because of me. I'm a weirdo. It took me pretty long to write this cause I found it hard to keep Tenten and Neji IC. I feel that I got them OOC… again. -.-

Disclaimer: Naruto is not my property.

**Chapter 3 of 'A Thousand Paper Cranes'**

**Neji**

He closed his eyes. The Hyuuga prodigy was trying his best to not bash his youthful team-mate; Rock Lee up. Tenten, as usual, was trying to shut Lee up. Neji twitched. He did not know what he did, to deserve such a 'wonderful' team-mate, and an extremely 'youthful' jounin teacher. '_At least Tenten is normal_,' Neji reminded himself.

"Neji, just what are you doing? You have been sitting there since an hour ago!" A voice yelled. Neji looked up. It was Tenten who had knocked Lee out and who was now glaring at him. He gave his famous Hyuuga prodigy smirk.

"For your information, Tenten-**chan**, I normally wouldn't waste my time sitting here. But seeing that you are having such an enjoyable time with Lee, I decided to let you continue your recreation," Neji spoke. Tenten rolled her eyes. One thing she hated about the Hyuuga prodigy, he was so, so, so sarcastic.

"So, Neji-**kun**, now that I'm done with my recreational activity, do you want to train?" Tenten hissed. Neji smirked and stood up. Tenten got into a fighting stance and she pulled out two scrolls. Neji identified the Jutsu she was performing and quickly activated his Byakugan. He dodged all the weapons from Tenten's Twin Rising Dragon Technique and he did a back flip. Tenten growled lightly and pulled out some kunai. With deadly accuracy, she threw them at Neji. Neji saw it coming with his Byakugan and he stepped on the first kunai, doing another somersault. Tenten threw a shuriken, seeing the blind spot of Neji and it hit. Tenten was surprised and worried. But she soon became annoyed when she saw a log taking the place of Neji. Desperately, she looked around for her Hyuuga team-mate.

"Behind you," a silky voice whispered. Tenten spun around and she came face to face with Neji. She felt her heart skipping a beat. She had never been so close to Neji before. Neji made use of the moment of shock. He grabbed Tenten's arm and pushed it behind her head, and locked her legs with his own. Tenten soon recovered from her shock and she struggled to break free, but Neji was much stronger and more capable at Taijutsu than her.

"I won," Neji lowered his head and whispered into Tenten's ear. He could not see Tenten's face, but he was positive that she was glaring, no, trying to glare at him. What a typical day for Hyuuga Neji.

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Neji is seriously OOC, needless to say. Oh well…


	4. Kakashi

Yeah... After being MIA for such a long time. I wonder if anybody remembers me? Well, shan't care. Let's get on with the story. It's Kakashi this time! Anyway, I was depressed with my results so I didn't write anything... Mild spoilers, by the way.

Disclaimer: Naruto? My property? Yeah. Sure. In my dreams. -.-

**Fourth chapter of "A Thousand Paper Cranes"**

**Kakashi**

It was raining.

A sad weather for a devasting day. The gray-haired jounin stood in front of the memorial. Today is the day when his teammate, Obito died. Obito. Uchiha Obito.

Kakashi reflected on his life since the death of Obito; his best friend. It had been empty. He was near the state of a living corpse. Well, that was it, until he started reaccepting missions again and became the sensei of Team 7. He smiled slightly at the memory of his three students.

Uzumaki Naruto. The boy whose body is the container of the Kyuubi. He had potential, Kakashi could tell. With his easy-going attitude and determination, he was not far from the position of the Rokudaime Hokage. Naruto, a man who might be able to change Konoha.

The twisted village, which is controlled by the Elders and Danzo behind the screen. Kakashi knew about all their deeds, but kept silent. For this, he felt guilty.

Naruto did not deserve this. Kakashi knew. It was not his fault that his father, the Yondaime Hokage sealed the Kyuubi in him. He was hero. Not a monster. With his powers, Naruto could easily eliminate the village now, why did he not? Kakashi knew. He was too kind. After special trainings with Jiraiya, he had become extremely powerful.

"Obito, had I really failed as a ninja of Konoha?" Kakashi spoke, sighing.

Then there was Uchiha Sasuke. A boy with so much hatred and anger at the tender age of 13. Kakashi could see that he was also going to be a man of great achievements. It was a pity that he went to Orochimaru. He could had been a great help in eliminating the vile Elders and Danzo. Sasuke never knew how much his brother cared for him. Never knew what extends his brother went for him. Uchiha Itachi was the best brother one could ever wish for. A caring, self-sacrificing brother. Kakashi shook his head. Konoha never cared about this.

Sasuke always thought that the world was cruel, but he never kenw how much someone out there cared for him. He was popular with the girls, but he rejected them, but what shocked Kakashi the most was that Sasuke defeated Orochimaru by himself, even absorbing Orochimaru's powers.

Last but not least, Haruno Sakura. She was not talented with fighting tactics except Taijutsu, but she would make an excellent medic-nin. Tsunade believed so too and trusted her. Kakashi remembered when there was noone but Sasuke in her eyes, but time changed it. Sakura was a whole new person. She no longer mourned over Sasuke, and for that Kakashi was glad. She had potential too.

"Obito, you can rest in peace, right? Konoha has three such wonderful ninjas, even though it isn't worthy of them. Well, maybe you can count your little 'nephew' out," Kakashi chuckled at his own joke. Kakashi placed the bunch of white lilies on the memorial tablet and left, not caring about being drenched.

'_Obito, somedays you will see the changes in Konoha._'

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Erm, maybe Kakashi was a little OOC, but I tried hard. I really did.


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